November 23, 2008 – Just before they took the stage, I caught up with Japanese rockers Dir en grey for a quick portrait session. Despite a brisk chill in the air and even a little rain, the guys were a bunch of troopers and we knocked it out.
Kyo, Kaoru, Die, Toshiya, and Shinya were all great subjects for the group shots and individuals alike.
These images are copyrighted and I must ask that they are not used for additional artwork or otherwise repurposed. Thanks very much for your understanding and consideration, I hope you enjoy the images.
Group Shots:
Individual Portraits:
Photographer’s Notes:
For the group shots, we used two locations, both just outside of the venue on an adjacent lot. The band’s translator, Nora, was great with helping out when necessary, but I found that the language barrier generally wasn’t a problem at all for directing the shoot. Addressing the band members by name and a few hand gesture to indicate positioning was more than enough for these shots. And of course, Dir en grey have be in the spotlight enough to be pros with stuff like this.
With the individual shots, we just did the shoot near the same spot as we did the first set of group portraits. We didn’t have much time for the whole set, so we wanted to make sure we secured the individual shots before going into the second set of group shots.
It’s funny to note that just like concert photography, I’m always on a time limit with these band portraits, flying to get the shots.
The lighting sets for these shots utilized one to three remote Nikon SB-600 flashes, controlled by a Nikon SB-900 on-camera acting as the commander. The key light for these shots was fired into a 45″ umbrella.
I used the Nikon D3, 24-70mm, and 14-24mm for this shoot.
End Notes:
A huge, huge thanks to Nora for helping coordinate everything, as the shoot wouldn’t have been possible without her.
If you haven’t seen the live set from the band’s performanace, be sure to check those out.
This entry was posted on Sunday, December 7th, 2008 at 9:45 pm and is filed under Portrait Photography and tagged with 2008, die, dir en grey, diru, kaoru, kyo, live, Music Photography, portaits, shinya, toshiya, tour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
?????????? ???????????????? http://ishootshows.com/2008/12/07/portraits-dir-en-grey/
http://ishootshows.com/2008/12/07/portraits-dir-en-grey/ WTFFF– haven't seen it before! D:
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My name is Todd, and I love the rock show. My work has appeared in publications such as Rolling Stone, SPIN, the New York Times, Alternative Press, Metal Hammer, Entertainment Weekly, and Billboard Magazine. I'm available for worldwide travel for editorial and commercial assignments.
These are amazing, really. I have not seen photos of them this good in a long time. Thank you so much for sharing these and the others you took during the live!
Hi Gina,
Thanks very much for the kind words, glad to hear you like these shots. I’d love to work with Dir en grey in the future and hope to do so soon.
Thanks again for sharing. These are great, it’s nice to see them not hiding in the darkness like they do for most of their shoots.
I’ll keep an eye out for these getting posted and whatnot. Sadly, I have a good idea where they might end up
Hey Elsa, I’m happy to share these shots, glad to hear you like them.
These portraits were shot under very dark circumstances, particularly the first group shot and the individual portraits. Since they’re lit 100% by flash, they might have thought they were in the clear. But in all seriousness, the guys were great subjects, very easy to work with.
I’d really appreciate it if you and anyone else who sees this post drops me a link if they see these images posted elsewhere.
Things being what they are, I know it’s impossible to keep control over things like this, but I do hope fans respect the images as much as they enjoy them.
I dig the shots where the hairlight is visible.
Hey Jason, thanks. Yeah, it’s just barely coming through on two of the shots!
My god Kyo is gorgeous.
These are all wonderful. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Ahn, thanks for the comment. Glad to hear you like them.
These are amazing! I’m very impressed. Also, it makes me happy to hear that everything went smoothly!
Although I am envious that I can’t use them for graphics (Sorry for the whining~, I’m sure you hear it a lot.), I think it’s pretty cool that you’re willing to put them up when some fanbases will ignore disclaimers such as those.
So in other words, thank you for posting them. :)
Hi Britti,
Thanks for commenting. I’m happy everything went smoothly, too! With quick portrait shoots like this, it’s easy for things to go a little off course, since the band’s time is so limited for things like this.
For me, I’d rather share these with fans than not, even if it means the risk of the images being abused in some way. I just hope than fans will acknowledge this and can simply appreciate the images here as they are.
I really appreciate your understanding on this matter! :)
Glad to hear they were easy to work with :)
The pics just got posted here http://community.livejournal.com/direngrey_daily/
friends locked again but actually linked back here this time.
Hey Elsa, thanks for the heads up – I appreciate you letting me know about that posting even if it’s locked. You rock.
Yeah, the guys were great! I can’t give enough credit to the band’s translator, Nora, either. She was really cool about setting everything up and even took me back to say goodbye to the band after the show.
Thank you for this. They look beautiful. I’d say more but Im trying not to sound like an overdramatic fangirl.
H,
Thanks for the comment! I think it’s mostly loyal fans making comments here, so you’re among friends.
Hey, I really love these shots! It seems rare to get portraits anymore with this band, so it’s very exciting to see them.
And out of curiosity, in regards to your graphics policy, was it the band’s management that asked this of you? It seems pretty common with Japanese bands, so I was just wondering.
Either way, thanks very much for sharing with us, it’s very appreciated! :) Keep up the good work.
Hey Jen,
Are more current portraits rare? I feel lucky to have had the opportunity, then.
As far as the policy with graphics, part if it is just a personal choice. Naturally, I want fans to see and enjoy these images, but I would also prefer to have some control over them when possible.
I do realize that many Dir fans love making icons and banners, so I will have to think about this.
Maybe we could have just a few select images that would be open for graphics as sort of a contest or promotion. I don’t want to get too ahead of myself, but just a thought. Do you think something like that would satisfy the fans?
Hey Todd, thanks for the quick response!
And yes, they are hardly in magazines in Japan even anymore, so shoots like this are few and far between. I think this might be why people continue to want to use your photos. Such high quality is extremely rare outside of the band’s webpage. It’s a big treat for us fans. :)
I completely understand wanting control over your photography however, and I hope people can accept that.
Though, a lot of people that make icons and banners (at least the ones that receive any kind of respect in the community) are very good about giving credit for the images they use. Really, I think this might be a good way for you to get more views from others who might otherwise never stumble upon this site on their own.
Of course it is all up to you. A few select images up for grabs would be nice. And I’m sure a contest would go over well.
I look forward to seeing what you will come up with!
Oh man, I just saw these posted on LJ (Where Elsa linked you) and I had to run over and see if you knew already… I’ve been checking this site regularly to see if you had posted these amazing pictures yet, and I was surprised to find them on LJ first. I’m glad she told you, lol.
But… the pictures! They’re absolutely gorgeous! These are the best pictures I’ve seen of them (other than their official website pictures)! What a treat indeed! I really like that you got nice clear shots of their faces and in the individual shots… the ones with Toshiya and Kyo’s hands in various spots are really powerful feeling. They really seem to capture some of the essence of who they are! Something about the first individual shot of Shinya is extra special.. I just really love that one, lol. Thank you so much for taking these pictures!
I just wanted to say thank you so much for sharing your photos! they’re amazing!
not sure if you do…but if you dont, have you thought about selling your photos? cuz there’s a few thats id LOVE to have…..
these shots and the images from the live are amazing . . . & like many fans have already stated, the rarity of Deg in full flash floods of light, make these photos very ‘valuable’
these images alone will help Deg gain in popularity world wide i’m sure. at any rate, they’ll definitely spark a lot of interest for ppl to listen to their music. (i can sense their loyal fanbase growing already)
Todd, thanks for putting so much effort and care into your art practice and giving us fans what we desire. As an aspiring photographer myself, you & your images have sparked something new within me to futher push and create.
I hope to see more collabs with you and Dir en grey in the near future.
Hello Mr Todd!
Brilliant shots as always! Honestly, I got so excited browsing through them. The details and images are just very clear and vivid and the angles and some of the poses (like one of the group shots, Kyo’s and Toshiya’s) are just great. I enjoyed looking at them all! And if you’re curious, the one with Toshiya’s hand outstretched is my favorite. ♥ I like the zooming effect that happened there.
And you really made them work it this time around — that’s something not every photographer can do!
Hello again :)
Just passing on that the pics are on the batsu forum now as well
http://batsu.org/viewtopic.php?t=43724&p=135#1882493
and popping up in a few other threads there too.
A lot of very disrespectful people on that forum when it comes to using and posting work :(
Todd!
You are godly!!!
Thank you for these.
They were also posted on LJ:
http://community.livejournal.com/direngrey_daily
these are amasing!!!! they havnt looked this gd in ages and kyo looks really content in this shoot not all dark and unaproachable , how where the guys during the shoot freindly enough yeah? were they quite seriouse or fun and pretty easy going? did they speak much to you or each other?
Mmm… catchlights in the hair make photos yummy.
Actually, their hair really brings out cool effects.
Nice photos.
Thank you very much for the photoshoot!
LOVE IT!
I posted some of these photos here: http://www.liveinternet.ru/community/dir_en_grey/post91410795/
Hey Nemyside, thanks. I can’t see that posted without an account, but did you link back here?
Hey there!
Those are some interesting photos. I have a question about the focus on hands. I have never seen them do it before so was it your idea or the band’s?
Hey Anna!
Toshiya did the hand thing first. I have to say, if I had to pick one of the band members who was the easiest to work with for the individual portraits, it would be Toshiya. He was was actively doing a few poses with his hands, including putting them out in front of the camera and also grabbing the collar of his jacket at one point.
With Kyo, I had him stretch out his hands after seeing how it worked with Toshiya. I also did some stuff with the band Novella that involved having band members reach out:
Portraits: Novella
well i guess thats a no…lol.
Hey Angela,
I wasn’t ignoring you, I just haven’t gotten to the comments posted late last night.
As far as selling prints, I generally don’t do this, but let me see what I can do, and I’ll follow up with you via email. Thanks!
Actually, I would be very interested in a print or two as well, if you decide to do so. Let me know!
did any of them smile? or as soon as you picked up the camera were they serious the whole time??
Sweet set dude! REALLY ACE!
Thanks, Keith!
Hey Max,
No, I don’t think anyone in the band smiled. They were pretty serious during the shoot, and generally pretty quiet before and after.
I’m one of the mods for Dir En Grey Daily. It was only posted with a few, made sure to note that the copyright belonged to you, & linked back. If you’d like that post deleted from the site, I’ll gladly do so and it was not meant to be disrespectful.
aww thank you for post these.
I was waiting for them since you announced them in your last dir post:)
They really look good!!!
thanks again;)
p.sI hope you are ready to cope with Dir fanbase lol
Todd, Of course I did :)
Thank you again!!!
Posted on LJ again :) http://community.livejournal.com/direngrey_fotos/1670239.html public entry
and http://community.livejournal.com/dir_en_grey/2411374.html locked entry, same post.
Oh, i came from a link posted on a dir en grey community in LJ which was sharing your blog.
really nice! I really love this pictures for maybe the same reason, everyone already said.
the quality of this photos are awesome! It would be so cool to have more good ones like this…or maybe more collaboration between them and you? =D
As a big fan of them, i’m really happy to see some new pretty photos so thank you for your good work!
See ya~
First i just want to say that these are indeed one of the best pictures of them i’ve seen lately. Gorgeous detail, colors, emotion even. Beautiful people and beautiful photographs. I adore the ones of Die and Toshiya, i love how they all seem sort of making them look bare, full of emotion, even if guarded by sunglasses. Especially those of Die, Kyo and Shinya. The absence of sunglasses in those really connects the viewer and the eyegaze is really powerful. But i wanted to say something about the group shots if i may. I love them all (esp 1 and 3), but i was bothered by the ones singleing Kyo out very visibly, especially the 4th one on this page. Dir en grey is not a frontman-driven band. Yes Kyo is maybe the most in your face but he’s not the sole mastermind of Dir. They always, i don’t know, stick together. It’s a true joint effort, in terms of music, of the band and so on, so it was a bit odd for me as a fan to see Kyo so visibly separated from the band, like the band are just supporting Kyo.
Sorry for the babble. I do love the pics, i love the composition and everything, i just felt like sharing a personal point of view. It bothered me to be quite honest, not in a bad way but in a surprised way. But i also think it’s interesting to see how different photographers see them, and different aspects of that, so in that respect i welcome the change. I respect an artists vision and don’t question it, again, just sharing what i felt as a receiver of said art.
In the end, regarding your copyright policy, i will respect it and wanted to ask if i may post some of the pictures on my livejournal, like a preview of sorts. I will credit and link back because i want people to see them all in all their glory but i wanted to post an image of each band member to discuss them with friends and introduce them to some friends who don’t know them. If that’s ok with you of course.
May i have your permission to do that? it’s ok if not, and i will just link here then.
thank you for listening and thank you very much for the beautiful beautiful treat. I hope you can work with them again soon.
Hi Todd!
I just wanted to tell you that I love you for sharing these pictures :D Even though you requested that they’re not used for anything else, I think it’s well worth it to just see them. They’re one of the best photographs of the band I’ve seen in a long, long time! I especially like the first individual Die picture, and the individual pictures of Toshiya. Looks like he’s a natural born model ;)
Anyways, I won’t bore you with more babbling, I just wanted to say thank you and I hope you get to shoot pictures with them again in the future since I’m sure the outcome would be amazing!
As mentioned by someone before, I saw one of these posted at the Dir en grey community so I came on over to check the rest out. They’re absolutely gorgeous. I’m envious you’ve gotten to work with them like this, even if it may have been briefly. And their personalities just pop out in these.
I hope you don’t mind, but I posted the picture of Kyo holding up his one hand towards the camera at my personal journal. Of course I mentioned your name and linked back here, suggesting people check it out but since I am relatively new and haven’t had many add requests, I’m not sure who all would see. I can only hope more and more fans will stumble across these beauties in order to enjoy them properly.
Hi Ru. I’m you were linked back to the originals/full set here, that’s great. I’m glad to hear you like them and that the bands’ personality comes through for you.
It sounds like what you posted on your personal journal is just fine. Re-posting one shot with credit and a link here is perfect, thanks! Would you mind posting your journal link here or emailing it to me?
really gorgeous !!! :D
Thank you, Lisa.
I wouldn’t mind posting a link to my journal at all.
http://trauma-of-wrist.livejournal.com/ .
Ah, thank you so much! Toshiya looks quite friendly with the camera.
Gorgeous photos!
You have some mad talent!
Hey Melanie,
Yes, Toshiya was all about the camera – but still in a “strong, silent” type kind of way. During the show, he also came to the front of the stage the most, and at the end, he hung his bass from some cables in the ceiling.
Loved your live photos and found these just as interesting. It would be great if they would feature some of your work in Haiiro no Ginka, their fanclub magazine, maybe if they like your photos they would be interested in doing this.
Shame you can’t come to the UK for the next tour, we need some decent photos of lives over here.
J, I hate say this but that’s not a Deg tour in the UK.
They are just a support act on a festival for Mindless Self Indulgence. That does not equal to a tour.
Hopefully they will anounce a decent headliner for the whole of Europe and not just the UK.
Sorry Todd, I know it’s irrevelant to the pictures.
Thanks Aru but I did know that and I bought tickets for 3 nights already. I’ve followed this band for many years and support them in everything they do so will still go to see them even if they are only being support for another band. I’m sure it won’t be long before they announce another Japanese tour and then I will be able to follow them there again which is always the best place.
Todd, shame you can’t go to photograph them on a Japanese tour too, sure you would have a great time.
In that case, J, I’m glad you have the money to be able to do that.
“Japan is always the best place” I kinda like how it sounds like – too bad most people cannot afford :/
Sorry Todd, my original comment to you seems to have been hijacked into the kind of conversation that goes on at Batsu!! I only replied because having seen Dir en grey on many tours the Japanese ones have always been the best.
Blame it on me, sure, why not, right J?
Sorry Todd, I’m out of here and thanks for the pictures.
P.S: This is what it’s like in the Deg fandom, Todd. Stay out of it while you can! xD
And sorry but I can’t seem to hold my mouth.
Nice pix hon .Thank you .
And most of the guys in the band understand a lot of English .They pretend they do not.
Do not let them fool you .Nora is just there for heavy duty technical talk really .
amazing photos!!! I adore them so much!!! great job!
Guess:
Glad to hear you like them. The band was basically silent all while we shot, not talking to each other nor Nora. Still, they took direction just fine, so it all worked out. It wouldn’t surprise me if they understood everything I said, but it was hard to tell!
Wow, these are great. :D
Thanks for sharing them. It really has been a while since I’ve seen recent pictures of the guys that weren’t from lives, so this was pretty cool. Not to mention that you are an amazing photographer.
Hey Crystal, thanks. I hadn’t realized that the band hasn’t done too many portrait shoots recently, or at least that they haven’t been featured in the press.
I was happy to get the time for the shoot, but now I’m even more glad. I hope to work with them again next year. Thanks again for the comment.
These are WONDERFUL! Honestly I’m staggered, each shot came out so well done and I love the ones with Toshiya and Kyo just kinda.. lifting up their hands or reaching, hah, it makes for rather interesting photography. There’s something about the angles, too — clearly I’m not a photographer nor do I have any skill in it, but there’s just something about the way you set up the shots, and the way Dir en grey posed, that click together so nicely. The same goes for the photos you did during their live set, they’re all really fantastic and capture these oddly intimate moments.
Thank you so much for posting these for us to enjoy!
wow, amazing, possibly the best pics ever of them! such nice work!!
lets hope that if ur images are used, they at least credit u, it would be at least decent of them. i admit, my first thoughts were graphics lol but i only use for personal tho, like my desktop, not online. i respect such hard and decent work. thx so much for sharing these, and the pics i found of the concerts!
Everything amazing about these pictures that needs to be said has been already! but I wanted to comment and say that I really love them too! If there were ever prints available I’d be up for one :) thanks for taking such awesome pictures!
These are amazing. I seriously have no words for just how much I adore you as a photographer from all of your photos. Your setup, lighting, the cameras, poses, all of it. I think you’ve just become my idol.
Hi Todd,
Your photo as you perhaps know are really nice. I like it so much. I want to know did you worked with Dir en Grey first time? and what do you think about them?
thank you =)
Hi Konayuki,
Thanks very much. I’d photographed the band once before when they were in the US supporting the Deftones, but this was the first time I met the guys. I thought they were all very nice and they all seemed very appreciative after the shoot. I’d love to work with them again.
As it turns out, I just got an email about the band possibly using the images in their fanbook or for other purposes, so I’m going see how that goes. Wish me luck, everyone.
I have gotten behind with replying to all the comments, but I will respond to everyone. Thanks very much for all the comments, it’s overwhelming!
This is some amazing shots. Thank you for sharing these.
Also, may I have your permission to use your photos for icons and such? I will guarantee I’ll credit you as a source.
Hi Miko! Thanks for the kind comment. At this time, I’m not authorizing any use of these images for graphics like icons or banners. I hope you understand, and I really appreciate you asking first.
Thanks for posting these wonderful photos. For me, it seems like all the photos taken in the past couple of years have featured them standing in shadows looking grumpy. Thanks for bringing back the intimacy they still possess. :)
Oh, and one more thing: Please make prints available. You’ll make us fans happy and yourself rich. ^^
Gnrbu: Thanks for the comment. I’d seen a few of the band’s promos as “homework” before this shoot, but I hadn’t realized that there would be such excitement over these portraits. I noticed one or two shots that were darker, but hadn’t realized that band hid in the shadows so much lately.
I will see what I can do about the prints. Thanks again!
These are terrific, as other people have said, its the first time we’ve actually seen them in any kind of real light in a really long time. I am not surprised that Toshiya was the first one to do the hand thing, or that he was the easiest to work with. On stage, he interacts with the fans more than the other members, and every time he posts something online, or does something you hear about, he’s always doing something very outgoing. You did a great job at capturing a very clear but realistic image of Dir en grey, I think these must be my favorite photos of them.
I don’t even know what to say, these are breath-taking. You’ve used very interesting angles, lighting and poses. And it’s neat to read you’ve had such a great interaction with them.
It would be awesome to see these printed in a book or a magazine featuring the band.
I hope you don’t mind my asking a question. I already understand and respect your wish these not to be used in graphics… but how would you feel if someone posted an example with credit and a link back on a fansite? I ask because I run a fansite based on Kyo. It needs some work, mind you; but I would love if I could talk about these in the gallery section of the site. Perhaps show an example and lead people back to where they can see the other individual shots of Kyo or the other members/band itself.
Of course I will also understand if you are against such a request. I just wanted to ask first.
75 comments? Holy s**t! Very nice set of images though, their opening their UK tour in my city so i might look into a photo session with the band.
http://www.fotolog.com/beios_violables/41440940
*-* Oohh I like it so much!!!
=) Your job is wonderful I swear!
We can see all their faces and their bodies, because in these last times, photos were so dark and It seemed they were hiding of the camera xD
=) But your photos are good and perfect!
I love Kyo’s hands!
*-* and I love this guys so much! They have a big piece of my heart ~ ?
Thank you for all!!
Really nice pictures!
First of all, I recently discovered your blog and I must say that I am now a regular visitor. =) I am in concert photograpny too and I must say that your work is one of the best I’ve seen in that field of photography.
Quick questions: When you do such promo shoots, do you always sell the pictures ? Or you shoot and hope to sell afterward?
And also, what kind of stand do you use for the flashes? I do have studio flashes, but fighting with wires would not be optimal in such shoots.
Found someone that’s made icons with some of the pics
http://community.livejournal.com/sugarcubex/1178.html
Oh I think that post is only being left open for a day or two.
Hey Elsa! Thanks very much for the link and notice. It looks like the icons were removed, as another LJ user (fairestofkisses) told them about the no-graphics policy. It’s really nice that they complied!
Someone on the LiveJournal community jrockhumor just posted some of your pictures with superimposed captions. This most likely falls under what you’d consider to be “abuse”: http://community.livejournal.com/jrockhumor/2139598.html
If you contact a mod I’m sure they’ll promptly remove the post.
Hello Todd,
My name is Kristal and I went to the concert that you took these amazing pictures at! I also took some pictures of my own to use as references for my art. The ones I took turned out fairly well, but my shots of Shinya and Kaoru in particular were not good enough quality to capture detail. I was wondering if you would be willing to give me permission to use a few of your photos as references for my drawings. I know that your pictures are copyrighted and they would linked back to you when I post my finished works. The credit for the ref will be stated in the comments section. I will also email you personally as soon as they’re posted.
Here is an example of a drawing I did from a picture a friend and I took at the concert
http://bunbunbunny7.deviantart.com/art/Glass-Skin-105583161
If you do not wish for me to post or use your photos in anyway I completely understand. Thank you for your time and wonderful pictures!
Those are beautiful photos; thanks for the wonderful shoot.
Amazing shots! the lighting was perfect. It is hard finding such clear photos of them so thank you very much.
The only problem is that they are too small
Hi Todd, im a DEG fan from Japan!
OMG these fotos are too awesome, thanks a lot for uploading. Kyo really looks holy…just amazing. Hope you shoot them again sometime!;)Best xox
Amazing pictures.
I love that we can now see them clearly!
Too many of their photos had little lighting.
I hope the use of your photos for the fanbooks and such goes well!
Good luck!
:]
Hi Todd, i got u at my twitter :b
good job! i love dir en grey and you could catch they really nice for the shoots!
thank you for showing it.
These shots are so amazing! They are simply gorgeous, no other way to describe them. Thank you so much for sharing these. The sad thing is though that many users on livejournal are using your photos to make graphics. Some of them have are just disregarding that you have stated not to use your photos in this way. I wish people would respect you, your work, and your copyright.
More icons here http://community.livejournal.com/blacklaboratory/7655.html
I don’t know if they’ll be taken down, some people have let her know that the pictures aren’t supposed to be used.
Hey Elsa,
Thanks very much for the link to those icons. I hadn’t given permission for those (or any other) graphics, so it’s unfortunate that people are using them.
I do really appreciate the notice, though! Thanks very much, and please let me know if you find any more!
Hey Britt,
Thanks very much for the kind words, I’m very glad to hear you like the images.
Regarding the Livejournal graphics, I have seen more and more. The nice thing is that there are a few people who have been kind enough to speak up in some of these posts about not using the images without permission, which has been very touching. I guess there is only so much that can be done, unfortunately.
I do appreciate everyone here who has commented and will try and reply. I’ve been out of commission with the flu the last week!
I havent seen pictures where you could see their faces in a long time. These are great and thank you for sharing!!!
sorry for being late to tell you! >.> yes, I made some graphics in http://community.livejournal.com/blacklaboratory/7655.html
tell me if you don’t give me permission I’ll definitely will delete the post.
it because your picture so awesome and I want make graphics for it, sorry.
http://community.livejournal.com/blacklaboratory/7655.html don’t worry, had been deleted. thank you for your attention <3
Hi Shiro, thanks very much for taking care of that. I really appreciate it.
Thanks so much for these photos Todd! They’re amazinggg. You’re so lucky to have met them. I wish i could meet Kyo :\ I hope you photograph them more in the future :] good job!!
Thanks very much for the comment, Hillary. Glad to hear you like the images. I hope to photograph the guys again, too!
Hi Todd found this on flickr today
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33623069@N06/3128046633/
You’re phenomenal, Elsa. I can’t even express how much I appreciate you being so proactive about bringing these things to my attention!
The copy over the image even covers of Shinya’s face!
That’s horrible! I really don’t get why people do that.
She’s also got the unedited version uploaded too
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33623069@N06/3128863402/
This post has where someone used one of your shots to post a macro image. http://community.livejournal.com/jrockhumor/2142519.html
*sigh* They got my pic in there too and never asked for permission, hence how I even noticed.
Hey Elsa: Thank you once again for looking out for me, I will look into this.
Dark Avenger: Thanks for the heads up. I had seen someone post in that group before with another image. I see that just below your request someone was kind enough to request the images be taken down, and linked back here.
Maybe I should make a LJ account just to try and deal with these things. Hopefully the person posting will take care of it, for both our sakes.
Hopefully. I wish certain parts of this fandom would respect copyrights and requests better… but I guess it’s to be expected with such a large fanbase. Getting an LJ just to deal with it might not be a bad idea. If they actually hear from you personally, they might take it more seriously than random fandom people telling them to take it down.
Hey again Todd, Dark Avenger is right getting an LJ might not be a bad idea. That way if the person the posted won’t remove the pictures you could contact one of the community maintainers or the LJ abuse team they usually do a pretty good job.
Another link for you, couple of shots near the bottom in this massive post of Kyo pictures and stupid comments. http://community.livejournal.com/rllysrsphotos/176482.html
The maintainers of this one believe that if you don’t want people to spread pictures around you shouldn’t post them so they might be hard to deal with.
Hey Elsa, thanks as always for the info. I will look into a LJ account, thanks for your thoughts on that.
Still, for all the misuse of the images, I’m still very glad that fans of the band seem to enjoy the shots, as that’s the whole point of sharing them!
Thanks again, Elsa, and to everyone else who has given me a heads up about this stuff.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen them like this…I don’t know what’s the best way to say thank you for these photos…I’ve been a DeG fan for about 10 years already and it’s so rare that I get to see such personal photoshoots,where you see there’s scarce or no photoshopping at all and they all seem to be at ease.I envy you for being able to meet them AND have a photo session with them! But a heartfelt thank you for putting these up,they are great.
B.
oh WOW these pics are just orgasmic xD you know that I mean??
Hey Betty, thanks for the comment, I really appreciate it from such a longtime fan. I was happy to get permission to photograph the band, but now I realize that it was a rare opportunity and feel lucky to have had the chance.
Glad to hear you enjoy the images.
Hey Todd….its been quite sometime now…i was still curious if it will at all be possible to buy prints?
I just saw Dir en grey live and I just had to come back to take another look at these photos. They’re really best photos of them I’ve seen in years.
Is there any chance of getting prints?
kyo is fuken beast man
thank you sooo much!
these photos are amazing!
i love dir en grey, and you captured their spirit
beautifully in these pictures. so much energy.
thank you!
Wow Todd Owyoung your work is sensational!
very good!
i loved your photos of Dir en grey!!!!!!!!
Genial!
regards!
Ayu
xDDD
I’m glad I found your site, Todd! I became recently a big fan of Dir en grey and your shots of the band are fantastic! Great colors as well. They inspire
me to start drawing again.
Greetings from Sweden,
Kerstien